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Article: LDA and MATT+FIONA collaborate with youth group on HS2 ‘meanwhile use’ community garden, Building Design, August 2024

Podcast: Shawn Adams of POoR Collective on effective consultation and engagement, RIBA Journal, August 2024

Article: How Essex teenagers are shaping their community with a little help from MATT+FIONA, Building Design, August 2024

Article: The Rubble Garden, Architecture Today, August 2024

Article: So you reckon you are co-designing? Really?, Architect’s Journal, October 2023

Article: Design News, The Guardian, March 2023

Article: Why we need foundational change in how we engage young people with the built environment, Building Design, November 2022

Article: MATT+FIONA picked for latest Kew treehouse commission_Architects Journal_April 2022

Article: Rejuvenation feature, Financial Times, February 2022

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MATT+FIONA is an architecture organisation that trusts and supports children and young people to make more inclusive & representative spaces & places

Exploring @hanif.kara ‘s approach of ‘Urban Mi

Exploring @hanif.kara ‘s approach of ‘Urban Mining’ in last week’s young people’s workshop @soanemuseum .

The young designers created a public building through model making, and then explored how that same set of materials can be dismantled and reused to make something new.

Hanif Kara, the structural engineer behind internationally acclaimed projects, including four Stirling Prize-winning buildings, is the recipient of this year’s Soane Medal. Speaking on the climate emergency: ‘As a scientist, I like to think that hope can turn into possibilities’.

#hanifkara #soane #modelmaking #reuse #adapt

Workshop led by @jshmulevitch

📸 by @jshmulevitch

Learning Landscapes is now open @artsdepot_ldn unt

Learning Landscapes is now open @artsdepot_ldn until 19th April! Go visit and experience this weird & wonderful landscape for yourself.

Created by children from 3 local Barnet schools - Barnet Hill Academy, Deansbrook Junior School and Friern Barnet School - the playful paper pieces come alive as you move through them.

Project led by Matt, Jon @jshmulevitch & Eve @evie_nix_ and supported by @georgepope227

#apthorpe #learninglandscapes #playwithpaper

📸 by @jshmulevitch and 🎥 by Matt

‘I tell lots of people – I built that!’ It

‘I tell lots of people – I built that!’

It was wonderful to read this article by Kimberley France @k.archi_design in @thedeveloperuk and @festivalofplace last week that centered the voices of the Young Placemakers and recognised the impact that designing and building Reflect had on them.

So often the built outcomes of projects like this are highlighted, but the real and tangible effects of taking part in them gets overshadowed. The pride that these young people show in their work and having shaped their local area is wonderful to see, especially when it has led to participants pursuing construction apprenticeships at the nearby Euston Skills Centre, where the BUILD took place last summer.

Thank you to Eleanor Rudd from Fitzrovia Youth in Action @fyaonroad for talking to the Young Placemakers about their experience and sharing those quotes with us. We hope that you enjoy reading more about Reflect and hearing a different perspective about its creation.

For the full article, see the link in our bio.

#reflect #codesign #youngpeople #design #build

The joy of playing with paper, on a SUPER scale.

The joy of playing with paper, on a SUPER scale.

This spring we’ve been working with @artsdepot_ldn to support children at three schools in Barnet to explore the concept of Learning Landscapes. Through these workshops, the young people have been reimagining their school environments and expressing their ideas through play with large-scale, paper, sculptural forms.

Moving from collaborating as small groups to a whole class, the students demonstrated amazing team work and spatial awareness. As one teacher commented, it’s a novelty to allow children to make something big and to take over space with their imaginations, when we so often live in small screens and devices.

Their imagined paper learning landscapes will be on display at the Apthorp Gallery @artsdepot_ldn this Easter Holiday. Link in bio for more details, do come and explore them for yourself.

Project led by @jshmulevitch and @evie_nix_ and supported by @georgepope227 Thank you too to wonderful volunteers from our Architecture Industry Champions @jesticowhiles

Our school collaborators are from Barnet Hill Academy, Deansbrook Junior School and Friern Barnet School. 

Timelapses by James Anderson and Eve Nixon

#learninglandscapes #paper #paperplay #origami #superscale

A joy to let children’s imaginations take flight

A joy to let children’s imaginations take flight in the entrance of 66 Portland Place!

The epic Festival of the Future brought together over 2000 young people to learn about, explore and challenge what the future of architecture can be. It was a privilege for MATT+FIONA to be involved alongside so many organisations we respect & admire.

Our suspended spaces workshop was devised by Matt (aka Ropeman!) and led by George Pope and Fi, with support from the brilliant Lil Adams @lil_toad

The festival was organised by @riba and Neil Onions at @beyondtheb_x and supported by @mayorofldn @ealingcouncil @officialheatherwickstudio @woodsbagot @vandersanden_ @wemakecamden @ahmmarchitects @riba @beyondtheb_x @lsbu and @ravensbourne_architecture

📸 by @patrickdempsey

#festivalofthefuture2025 #suspendedspaces #codesign #cocreation

Towering Dreams: Here are the first seeds of those

Towering Dreams: Here are the first seeds of those beautiful dreams on day 1 of 150 ✨

This weekend we kicked off the participatory element of @compton_verney ‘s latest exhibition, Towering Dreams: Extraordinary Architectural Drawings. If you’re in Warwickshire between now and August, be sure to drop in to add your own architectural (or other!) imaginings. See link in bio for more details.

“What if I built a house in the shape of my initials? What if a dog kennel looked like an Ancient Greek temple? Could you fit St Paul’s Cathedral inside the Great Pyramid at Giza?”

Towering Dreams explores how architects of the 18th and early 19th centuries understood the world around them, and the ideas and cultures which inspired them. During the 18th and 19th century, new buildings began sprouting up across cities, towns and country estates in Britain. Whilst they may seem traditional and familiar to us today, the inspirations behind many of them were whimsical or strange at the time, drawing influences from ancient Greek and Roman buildings, Egyptian monuments and buildings from the Far East and Asia.

Drawn from the collection of the Sir John Soane’s Museum, amassed by one of Britain’s most famous and pioneering architects, Towering Dreams features extraordinary architectural drawings for amazing buildings, both real and imagined, in Britain and the world beyond.

This participatory installation has been led by Matt, Eve @evie_nix_ and the brilliant team at Compton Verney including @butchartemma
Exhibition curated by @jane.simpkiss

#toweringdreams #comptonverney #soane #architecturaldrawings #participatoryexhibition #cardboardbuild

Thank you @franwillz at @architectsjournal for shi

Thank you @franwillz at @architectsjournal for shining a spotlight today on the creation of ‘Reflect’, a pavilion for play designed and part made by young people in Euston.

“Co-designed by local young people under the guidance of MATT+FIONA and local charity Fitzrovia Youth in Action, ‘Reflect’ is a new centrepiece for a meanwhile garden on a former HS2 construction compound.

“The project occupies the site of the former National Temperance Hospital – one of several empty plots in the Euston area to be transformed by HS2 into a meanwhile garden for public use, following the pause of the UK’s huge infrastructure project. It is the only one in the series to be co-designed with a local youth group, as well as the community that will use it.

“Working with the Camden-based charity Fitzrovia Youth in Action, MATT+FIONA gathered ideas through large-scale ink drawings and sketches, which were then developed into a plan.

“Forty-eight young people initially took part in this consultation, with 18 young placemakers coming together over the course of 12 weeks to develop the concept for a multifunctional pavilion to become the focal point of a garden designed by LDA Design.”

For the full article see the link in our bio.

We feel there has been as much beauty in the process ~ the teamwork, collaboration & dedication of all the project partners behind the scenes ~ as there is in the resulting space.

It was a pleasure to work with the young people and Eleanor Rudd at Fitzrovia Youth in Action @fyaonroad , @manfredipedone and Dafydd Warburton at @ldadesign , @integral_engineering_design , Danny Allen, Nassar Ali & Gairey Thomas at @hs2ltd , Natalie Kirkwood at @macegroup and @nabil.alkinani amongst many others.

Thank you @clairecurtice and @sabinezetteler at @_zetteler_ for all your support in sharing the story.

And thank you as always to all the team involved, past and present: @jshmulevitch , @georgepope227 , @chloehyl , @evie_nix_ and Matthew Springett

#reflect #codesign #meanwhile #youthled

We were very excited to find this beautiful book i

We were very excited to find this beautiful book in our letterbox a few days ago: ‘Esperienza dello Spazio. Educazione ludica all’architettura’ by @ale.ssandra_gabriele , a compilation of her research at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome and the Department of Architecture in Pescara into the importance of built environment learning for school age children.

In the book, Alessandra argues that given architecture primarily exists in relationship with those that experience and inhabit it, children should have the right to learn about it and explore it in school.

We couldn’t agree more so we were doubly excited to be included as case studies alongside so many others we admire working in this field, including but not limited to:
@uia_architects Built Environment Education Network @arhitektuurikool @caue_de_paris @arkkifinland @chiquitectos @maushaus_arquitectura @lunarquicos @museomaxxi

The book cover is a frame from a video by @francis_alys_official

Apprenticeships build new skills, open doors… an

Apprenticeships build new skills, open doors… and, ultimately, change lives. This National Apprenticeship Week we want to say a huge thank you to the organisations and companies who are supporting the next generation with real world opportunities ~ and an even bigger shout out to all the apprentices bringing energy and new ideas to the fore!

We’ve had the privilege of working with the Euston Construction Skills Centre these past few years to support their mission to encourage more people into the construction sector. Fuad is just one example. He joined us for this summer’s build of Reflect with @fyaonroad , the pavilion on an HS2 meanwhile site and park, just off Hampstead Road. Fuad is now doing his Level 1 Construction Skills Course at the Euston Skills centre as a direct result of the project.

And today we’ve been back at Euston Skills Centre today supporting girls and nonbinary young people to build BIG, with a super cardboard build.

We hope experiences like this show just how interesting, creative and meaningful a career in the design and construction sector can be, and ensure real pathways are made available to everyone.

📸 by @jshmulevitch

#nationalapprenticeshipweek #apprentices

Who said January had to be about hibernation? Wond

Who said January had to be about hibernation? Wonderful to see the Regents Park Estate bring out the joy last night to celebrate with the local young designers who created Reflect, the new performance and play structure.

Under a starry sky, Reflect and the National Temperance Hospital Gardens (by @ldadesign ) hosted their first event, Fitzrovia Youth Action’s Winter Wellbeing @fyaonroad . Play and much needed catch ups were fuelled by hot chocolate and hard warmers, and topped off by opening words from Ellie Rudd, FYA’s brilliant Programme Manager (& so many other wonderful things!) and Nicky, one of the Young Placemakers.

The structure takes on a new character at night, as a beacon lighting up the skyline and catching the lights of London’s busy streets.

Here’s to lots more moments of Reflect bringing people together.

The Winter Wellbeing event was organised by @fyaonroad Programme Manager, Ellie Rudd and the FYA Young Guardians. The Reflect opening event was organised by our Programme Manager, George Pope @georgepope227 , Natalie Kirkwood, Senior Engagement Manager at @macegroup , Gairey Thomas at @hs2ltd and @clairecurtice at @_zetteler_

Photos 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8 are by @jshmulevitch
Photos 4 and 13 by Matt Springett
Photos 9, 10, 11, and 12 by Shafi Rahman

If you have been down Hampstead Road in Camden lat

If you have been down Hampstead Road in Camden lately, you may have noticed a new addition to the skyline…

Reflect is the result of a year-long engagement process with young people in Camden, culminating in Fitzrovia Youth in Action’s Young Placemakers coming together last August to build the panels that they designed and which make up the top half of the structure.

Now the result of their work is here: a six-metre tall beacon demonstrating young people’s power in shaping their neighbourhoods. The play and performance structure is the focal point of the National Temperance Hospital Garden, a meanwhile green space established on a former HS2 construction compound.

Mirrored surfaces dramatically catch the sun and the surrounding area, elevating the pavilion to the status of landmark. Above the stage, the array of overhead mirrors creates intriguing and unusual visual effects, reflecting performers onstage back to the audience – earning the structure its title, ‘Reflect’, which was chosen by the team of Young Placemakers that conceived and built it.

The project has been a joyful collaboration between the amazing Young Placemakers from FYA @fyaonroad , LDA Design @ldadesign who landscaped the surrounding garden, Integral engineering @integral_engineering_design , HS2 @hs2ltd , MDJV @macegroup and us at MATT+FIONA, led by our Programme Manager Jon Shmulevitch @jshmulevitch

We are so excited that Reflect and the garden are now open to for the public to enjoy, providing a new green and playful space to the local community!

Photos by @the_nick_turpin

Fresh off the back of a win at the TET (ThorntonEd

Fresh off the back of a win at the TET (ThorntonEducationTrust) Awards last week, we’re so pleased to announce that the Tendring Colchester Borders Garden Community Youth Engagement Programme with @latimer by Clarion Housing Group has been announced as a finalist in the ‘Community Engagement: Homes’ category at this year’s Pineapple Awards!

Thank you to The Developer @thedeveloperuk and @festivalofplace for recognising the work that we and Latimer have been doing to ensure that young people are meaningfully shaping the future garden community, and for reaffirming the vital importance of giving young people a say in the shaping of their local area.

We can’t wait to present the project at the free digital Festival of Pineapples, happening 25th to 27th February.

Click the links in our bio to read the article in The Developer to discover the other amazing finalists and to attend the digital Festival of Pineapples.

Good luck to all of the finalists!

The Essex Young Designers have kicked off 2025 in

The Essex Young Designers have kicked off 2025 in style, building on their work before the winter break to create this beautiful 1:20 model of a permanent element for Phase 1 of the Tendring Colchester Borders Garden Community.

After previously working in groups, the whole collective came together to create this model which explores the thinking that the group has been exploring for almost two years. This includes carving out a space for teenagers to meet, regenerative design principles and their own creative flair in shaping the future garden community.

The Tendring Colchester Borders Garden Community is a joint project between Tendring District Council, Colchester City Council and Essex County Council. It is a planned new community, centred on Garden Community principles. Latimer by Clarion Housing Group @latimer and Mersea Homes are the joint delivery partners. MATT+FIONA are supporting with the in-depth and genuine involvement of young people. The Essex Young Designers are led by our Programme Manager, George Pope @georgepope227 with support from our Programme Manager Jon Shmulevitch @jshmulevitch

Reflecting on a wonderful week ✨ Our engagement

Reflecting on a wonderful week ✨

Our engagement work with @latimer for the Tendring Colchester Borders Garden Community picked up the Joint Award for longterm children’s programme at this week’s Thornton Education Trust Awards @thorntoneducationtrust

The initiatives, which include the Essex Young Designers ~ still going strong almost 2 years on from its creation ~ were recognised for their longterm commitment to local young people and recognition that children hold unique and invaluable insights that can help shape the new, regenerative garden community.

Alongside, our co-design work with @bywaterproperties for the ceramic facade of the new Paradise building in Lambeth was shortlisted for the community engagement category.

Congratulations to both our clients, and to all the award winners, commendations and nominees. It was so inspiring to see how the awards have grown, and the breadth and depth of initiatives now happening in this field. Thank you @thorntoneducationtrust for championing such important work.

Photo 1 by @lapchingphotos
Photo 2 by @luke.odonovan
Photo 3 by @the_nick_turpin

#tetawards #thorntoneducationtrust

Brandhall Eco Park is a new park, being created on

Brandhall Eco Park is a new park, being created on the site of a former golf course in Sandwell. We’ve been working in collaboration with LDA Design @ldadesign and Sandwell Council to run a series of youth engagement workshops to better understand what the young people of Sandwell would like to see in this new park.

Workshops 1 + 2 engaged over 80 9-11 year old pupils from two local schools. Giving the pupils a brief of ‘woodland play’, we used found natural materials, wooden blocks, corrugated card and coloured paper to enable the young designers to create 40 mini parks. These mini parks were then brought together to create one big installation.

Working with the same materiality, workshop 3 engaged a smaller group at Bleak House Youth Group. These designers focused on spaces for gathering for teenagers.

Some of the outcomes of the engagement sessions were: Creating parks with adventurous treetop play, with specific pieces of equipment like zip wires and monkey bars; designing spaces to gather that could be used by children, young people and adults; ensuring the park has new sports facilities that are integrated into the landscape.

Thank you to our Assistant Programme Manager, Eve Nixon, @evie_nix_ who led this project. Photos by Matt & Eve.

#ecopark #codesign #youthengagement #landscapedesign #brandhall

As we gear up for more exciting things in 2025, we

As we gear up for more exciting things in 2025, we want to take a moment to say thank you to all the children, young people, partners, sponsors and collaborators we’ve had the opportunity to work with this year, especially our Industry Champions, @jesticowhiles @buro_happold @happoldfoundation

Above all, a big thank you to our team, who bring joy, hope & inspiration everyday. George, Jon & Eve it’s a privilege to work with you.

These snaps by @jshmulevitch are from our end of year celebration at Hackney City Farm @hackneycityfarm_official including learning to whittle with the lovely London Greenwood @londongreenwood

Wishing you all a wonderful festive season and a v

Wishing you all a wonderful festive season and a very happy & creative 2025!

Looking back at 2024, it’s been our busiest and biggest year yet. Swipe ➡️ to see our year in numbers.

Matt and I would like to say a big thank you to our team, partners, funders, collaborators and of course all the children & young people we’ve had the pleasure of working with ✨ Bring on 2025!

The magic of protobuilds ✨ Building prototypes

The magic of protobuilds ✨

Building prototypes at 1:1 not only ensures genuine and transparent co-design, but it’s fun! Seeing ideas come to life at full scale 💥

In the final workshop with Mission Grove Primary School students, the children built life size versions of the pieces for the play street. Bendable honeycomb cardboard acted as the metal trim trail and locally sourced fabric created the colour & pattern.

The children created a low level, climbable bench, a hoop for ball games, stepping stones, and a trim trail with rails for hanging upside down & sliding.

The design team will now incorporate these ideas into the final design for the Play Street, part of the council’s wider Government Funded (Levelling Up Fund) ‘Walthamstow Culture for All’ Programme to improve safety, greening, inclusiveness, and accessibility in the town centre.

More information about the programme is available here: Walthamstow Culture for All https://talk.walthamforest.gov.uk/walthamstow-culture-for-all

Workshop led by @jshmulevitch

📸 @jshmulevitch

#protobuild #playstreet #playontheway #walthamforest #youngdesigners #codesign

Last week’s workshop with the Essex Young Design

Last week’s workshop with the Essex Young Designers was the second in this chapter in which we are supporting the group to design a permanent element for phase 1 of the Tendring Colchester Borders Garden Community.

The young people split into three groups focusing on different elements of the brief: landscape & activity, structure, and roofing & shelter. They were asked to create different possibilities for ‘A Place to Meet’ through 3D models using materials that reflect regenerative design principles. We will begin to synthesise their thinking in between sessions before scaling up to a proto-build in the new year.

We were joined by Russ Edwards from @latimer the Project Director for TCBGC, who since the project’s inception has been a strong advocate for the importance of young people shaping the Garden Community.

The Tendring Colchester Borders Garden Community is a joint project between Tendring District Council, Colchester City Council and Essex County Council. It is a planned new community, centred on Garden Community principles. Latimer by Clarion Housing Group and Mersea Homes are the joint delivery partners. MATT+FIONA are supporting with the in-depth and genuine involvement of young people. The Essex Young Designers are led by our Programme Manager, George Pope @georgepope227

#gardencommunity #youthengagement #regenerativedesign

Out this week 💥 It was a pleasure for George, M

Out this week 💥 It was a pleasure for George, Matt & Fi to sit down with wonderful @umarellnewsletter co-founder Katy Hope @epoh_ytak this summer for their issue, A Hand to Hold.

In case you haven’t come across the word before, umarell is an Italian term for men of retirement age who spend their time watching construction sites, especially roadworks – stereotypically with hands clasped behind their back and offering unwanted advice to the workers.

And if you haven’t come across the journal, Umarell, do check it out - link in bio.

In their words:
Umarell was born at the end of 2022 over a pint in Glasgow. The manifesto we set out from the beginning was to highlight under-represented and radical projects in architecture and all its peripheries. We wanted to create an accessible, but not dumbed down, publication that would extend the reaches of architectural practice beyond what is the norm to many.

We open Umarell up to everyone, architect or not, we don’t believe in the elitist narrative that a lot of architects perpetuate. Architecture is unavoidable in life and through deepening people’s understanding of the built environment we hope that they will begin to question these places and take action against architecture’s many injustices.

Umarell was started by Rory Thomas, Katy Hope and Andrew Wilson, we all met whilst studying at the Mackintosh School of Architecture in Glasgow. It takes many more than just us to do the projects we have done so also a big thanks to everyone we have worked with, whether that be on the publication or our built projects. Thanks to all our umarells.

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